


Lonely These Holidays

by cafe80s



Category: Phineas and Ferb
Genre: Band breakup, Christmas, Gen, Solo interview, santa claus is coming to town
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-23
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-09-15 15:50:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16936134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cafe80s/pseuds/cafe80s
Summary: Danny goes to an interview about Love Händel’s new single, Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town, but the other two band members don’t go with him.





	Lonely These Holidays

**Author's Note:**

> The idea for this struck me while I was listening to this song, and realised how much I wanted to write about these guys. Also, this is set just before their breakup in the 90’s.

Danny sighed, and carefully shut his guitar case. Love Händel was hanging by a thread. Bobbi and Swampy fought constantly, their fan base was deteriorating, but all Danny wanted was to make music.

Their last single had been released a few days prior; at the request of their manager they had been told to do a rock cover of Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town. It was a great song, and Danny loved it, but the other two were glad to have it over with. 

He picked up his guitar case and shoved it in the back of his car. He’d be going to this last interview by himself, and he knew he wouldn’t enjoy it. The possible questions from the interviewer buzzed around his head like mosquitoes, irritating and difficult to get away from. 

Danny drove out of his driveway to the WJOP studio. The interviewers there weren’t bad, it was just the fact that two thirds of the band were absent, and Danny would have to come up with a realistic excuse as to why they weren’t there.

He parked his car, and sat staring at the building for a while. The guilt and anxiety grew in his stomach as he saw people from the studio darting around outside in thick jackets, steam escaping from their mouths and noses. It was cold, but Danny just wanted the interview to already be over so he could keep writing lyrics in front of his fireplace. He seemed to do a lot of that these days, especially now that Love Händel didn’t hang out.

Danny rubbed his forehead with his hand, sighed, and got out of the car, retrieving his guitar from the back seat. He’d brought it as a diversion, so he could tease the interviewer with some new things he had been working on. The less he had to talk about Bobbi and Swampy, the better.

He didn’t want to make eye contact with anyone, but he felt like he had to because of who he was. He was Danny from Love Händel! Pretty much everyone in the Tri-State Area knew him. He took a deep breath and walked in the front door of the studio, being greeted by assistants and a few other kinds of people.

”Daniel, welcome to the WJOP studio!” A woman with a pair of glittery antlers over her dark hair greeted him. “Let’s get you inside. Do you need me to take this?” she asked, moving her hands toward his guitar.

Danny brought it closer to himself and stepped back slightly. “No, no, it’s alright. I can take it.” The guitar was definitely going to be a bit of a coping mechanism today.

He was lead to a hallway with a red sign overhead that wasn’t glowing. The door to the studio was open, and the interviewer sat behind the desk, his face concealed by the placement of a microphone.

”Just go in, and we’ll be ready to go in a few minutes.” The assistant smiled. “Can I get you some coffee?”

Danny knew he wasn’t going to drink it, but having something warm would have calmed him slightly. Sure, it wasn’t his fireplace, but it was the closest. “Yeah, that would be great. Thank you.”

He tiptoed into the studio, the interviewer still hunched over, reading a sheet of paper. Danny cleared his throat.

The interviewer’s ginger-haired head snapped upwards, his eyebrows raised. They then lowered when he realised who was standing opposite him.

_TJ Anderson. He’s not so bad, but he’ll be a little irritating._

”Danny! Welcome back to WJOP! How are you this morning?”

”I’m fine, thanks, TJ.” Danny shook his hand over the desk. “How are you?”

“I’m great! Where’s the rest of the band?”

 _Straight off the bat, huh?_ “Well, uh, Swampy’s a little busy with family today, since it’s a few days til Christmas, and uh… Bobbi’s just in the throes of… moving house.”

”Well, I’m glad you could come. You been enjoying the cold weather these last couple of weeks?”

”Has anyone?” Danny laughed, pushing as hard as he could to make the situation seem genuine.

TJ looked through the window to the sound mixers. “Looks like the song’s almost finished, you all good to start the interview?”

Danny put on his headphones and gave him a thumbs up.

TJ cleared his throat and turned his mic on as the song faded out. ”That was a throwback to the start of the decade with Love Händel’s greatest hit, Snuck Your Way Right Into My Heart! And it’s a great introduction to our interview today, with the band’s very own lead singer, Danny! Welcome to the studio!”

”Thanks for having me here, TJ.” Danny replied.

”So, you’re here because of your band’s new single, Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town, released just two days ago and already has a pretty good record. Are you pleased with how it turned out?”

Danny smiled. “Yeah, I’m super happy with how it turned out. Even though it wasn’t an original we still had tons of fun making it and turning it into a rock song. The guitar solo is definitely my favourite part.” Danny laughed for good measure.

”That’s great! So, how is the band going? Have you guys got any new music coming? Any tours?” TJ raised an eyebrow.

”Well, uh, we’re taking a bit of a break over the holidays, so probably not any new tours for a while but we’ve been working on some new songs recently.” Danny reached for his guitar. “Do you want a little taste?”

”Oh, uh, sure! That would be great!”

Danny quickly made sure his guitar was tuned, and strummed a G-chord to relax himself. “Alright, this one’s just a little riff I’ve come up with while playing around with the guitar at home, y’know.” He played a 24 count piece that was fast, but had lots of emotion. Danny almost lost himself in it.

”That’s real great, Danny! That sounds kind of similar to… well, it’s got a similar feel to your band’s first single Snuck Your Wa-“

”Right Into My Heart, yeah.” Danny interrupted. “I wanted to do more of the ballad-y sort of stuff. I think the next album might not be as hard rock as our other ones.”

”Do Bobbi and Swampy wanna do that?” TJ looked him in the eye as Danny put his guitar down.

”Uh… well, you know Swampy likes his drum solos and whatnot, and Bobbi likes the more groovy stuff, but I think a softer set of songs might be good.”

”Right…” TJ said, nodding slowly, looking down at the sheet of paper in front of him. “Now, I understand that your fanbase is… a little smaller than it was back in the day?”

”Back in the day?” Danny repeated. “Love Händel only formed eight years ago-”

”Don’t you think your band is getting kind of… old? I mean, you aren’t the hottest band in the Tri-State Area anymore. Tiny Cowboy are starting to get a little more popular, wouldn’t you say?”

Danny released the tension he didn’t realise had built between his eyebrows and sat back in defeat. He sighed. “Well, yeah, I guess you could say that we aren’t as popular. But there are people who still love our music, right? Otherwise I wouldn’t be here in this interview.”

TJ’s eyebrows shot upwards. “Actually, speaking of being here for the interview, where are the other two?”

”Like I told you earlier, they’re both busy with stuff. It’s three days til Christmas. People get busy.”

”I’ve heard a rumour that you guys are separating a little bit.”

Danny picked up his guitar quickly. “Do you wanna hear another song? I can do an acoustic version of something.”

TJ paused. He held his finger up slightly. “Actually, that’s okay. Thanks again for joining us in the studio, and for giving us an intro to your new song, which we’re gonna play right now! Listeners, get into the Christmas spirit with this song, a great Love Händel rock cover of Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town!”

Danny turned off his microphone and ripped of his headphones as the song began to play. He packed up his guitar and glared at TJ.

“Thanks for coming in, man,” the interviewer said. “See you again sometime?”

”Never.” Danny stated, leaving the room and charging down the hallway, meeting a flurrying of people and pushing his way through to the parking lot.

He shoved the guitar back into the car, slamming the door and getting into the driver’s seat. He drove home, tears building in his eyes, and when he finally made it, he grabbed his guitar and sat in front of his fireplace.

Danny let it all out. He knew he shouldn’t have said yes to the interview. TJ was a foul man, trying his best to get Danny to snap, and he had managed to.

He rocked back and forth on the floor, holding his knees up to his chest, tears streaming down his cheeks. He couldn’t keep it in for any longer. Sobs escaped his mouth. He just wanted everything to go back to how it was eight years ago. When his band was new, and trying out new kinds of things. Their first song was so good. Danny just wanted to relive what it felt like to be in a band that felt strong.


End file.
